In the pre-dawn hours of a mid-June Friday in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, a male Captain with the Sheriff's Office, Octavio 'Ox' Gonzalez, was deeply involved in a manhunt. The 40-year-old veteran officer, with 13 years of service, was searching for two suspects who had shot and wounded one of his deputies just minutes earlier during a narcotics stop on U.S. Highway 51.
The suspects had opened fire on the deputies as they approached their vehicle and then fled the scene, sparking a widespread search.
While canvassing the Spring Meadow Subdivision in LaPlace at approximately 1:20 a.m., Captain Gonzalez's attention was diverted by a woman who appeared to be a stranded motorist. This encounter, however, was a deceptive lure. As he was occupied with contacting dispatch, a male suspect ambushed him, firing three shots into his back and side. The fatal ambush was a calculated act of violence that abruptly ended the life of the dedicated officer.
Following the shooting, the male and female suspects stole Captain Gonzalez's service weapon and his vehicle. They then fled into a nearby residential area, where their desperate attempt to evade capture escalated. The pair forced their way into a home, taking three people hostage, including an elderly woman and a young boy. A tense standoff with law enforcement ensued. Ultimately, the male shooter surrendered to the authorities.
The aftermath of Captain Gonzalez's murder saw the wheels of justice turn. The female suspect, a convicted felon, was sentenced to 40 years for three counts of kidnapping and 50 years for two counts of armed robbery. On April 1, 2008, her male accomplice, also a convicted felon, was convicted of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and received an additional 50 years for the attempted murder of the first deputy who was shot.
